Southwest Michigan Real Estate Market Update 

May 2022 - Kalamazoo, Van Buren, St. Joseph Counties

Kalamazoo Realtor and Listing Agent, Janice Allen, takes a quick look at the Southwest Michigan real estate market for May 2022. If you are thinking of buying or selling a home in Kalamazoo, you need to stay on top of the Kalamazoo, MI real estate market!

NEW LISTINGS

In Kalamazoo County, there were 302 homes on the market in March and in April 335 homes entered the market which is a 9.9% increase.  In Van Buren County there were 109 homes on the market in March and in April there were 111 homeowners who listed their properties which is up 1.8% over last month.  In St. Joseph County the number of homes listed in March was 69 and in April, 72 homes entered the market for a 4.2% increase.   So across the board, in all 3 counties in April 2022, more properties came on the market in comparison to the previous month. 

PENDING SALES

In Kalamazoo County, there were 286 pending sales in March and 287 homes that went under contract in April which is up by .3%.  In Van Buren County, there were 68 homes that went under contract in March  where there were 85 homes pending in April which is up by 20%.  In St. Joseph county, 62 listings went under contract in March and in April, 66 homes went under contract for a 6% increase.   As you can see on this chart, the number of pending sales is up across the board.   Even with rising interest rates rising, we have seen a slight increase in the number of homes going under contract across the board. 

DAYS ON MARKET

Let’s take a look at Days on Market and how long it took to get those pending sales into contract.  In March 2022 it took 15 days to get a property under contract and in April that time was reduced to 12 days to get those 287 properties under contract which is 3 fewer days overall.  In Van Buren County it took 36 days in March for a property to get under contract, and in April it took 26 days to get those 85 pending sales into contract which is up 10 fewer days in comparison to last month.     In St. Joseph county, it took 29 days to get a under contract in in March whereas in April it took 49 days to get those 66 homes under contract which is an increase by 10 days.  So in Kalamazoo County and Van Buren Counties it took less time to get homes under contract and in St. Joseph Counties it’s taking longer than last month.   

CLOSED SALES

In Kalamazoo County, there were 224 homes that closed in March and in April there were 242 sales in the past 30 days which is a 7.4% increase.  In Van Buren County, 66 homes closed in March and in April, 76 homes sold  which is up 13.2% from this time last month.  In St. Joseph County 53 homes sold in March and in April, 56 homes sold in the past 30 days which is up 5.4%.   So in closed sales, in all 3 counties, you can see that sales are up .

AVERAGE SALES PRICE

Let’s move on to our averages sales price. 

In Kalamazoo County the average sales price in our MLS for those 242 homes that sold in April for a little over $291 thousand dollars and those homes sold at an average of 102.3% of list price.  So on average, homes are going 2.3% above the list price that sellers are selling at with an averages sales price of $291 thousand dollars.

In Van Buren County, the average sales price for those 76 sales averaged a little over $327 thousand dollars in April 2022.  Those homes sold at an average of 100.3% of list price, so those 76 homes sold over list price by .3% with an average sales price of $327 thousand dollars. 

In St. Joseph County, the averages sales price for the 56 homes that sold in April was over $254 thousand dollars and those homes sold 97.8% of the list price.  In St. Joseph county homes sold below the list price that sellers were selling at with an average sales price of $254,424 dollars.    

MONTHS SUPPLY OF INVENTORY

In Kalamazoo County, in March the months supply of inventory was .4 months meaning if no other homes came on the market, it would take roughly 13 days for everything that's currently available to sell.  In April inventory went up to .5 months which is the first time we’ve seen an uptick this year.  In Van Buren County in March there was 1.4 months supply and in April it went up to 1.4 months so inventory remained unchanged .   

In St. Joseph county in March the months supply of inventory was at 1.0 month and in April that went up to 1.1 months supply.  So supply from March to April in Kalamazoo County went up, in Van Buren County it remained unchanged and in St. Joseph County supply went slightly up.    In order to reach a balanced market where home values would be stable we typically would expect to see around 6 months of inventory.  and as you can see,  we have a long way to go to reach a balanced market.     

INTEREST RATES

As you probably know, the average interest rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was in the low threes around the beginning of the year, and according to Freddie Mac's website as of May 19^th, they're now at 5.25%, so rates are rising pretty rapidly  but it's still a supply and demand issue. Average prices have still increased in all three counties.